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Gardening: Three essential tools to help keep your lawn looking good this summer

Bosch Rotak 43 Li Ergoflex cordless mower
Bosch Rotak 43 Li Ergoflex cordless mower Bosch Rotak 43 Li Ergoflex cordless mower

SO, YOU'VE raked all the moss out of your lawn, weeded it, fed it and hopefully given it the best head start it can have for summer. Here are three tools which should help you keep your lawn looking its best:

1. A mower: Depending on your budget and the size of your lawn, you can go for electric, petrol or battery-operated, rotary, cylinder or hover. Petrol types tend to be better for lawns over 150 square metres, avoiding the need for sockets or extension leads. But for us, the battery types are the way to go. They're cordless, so no cables to get in the way, and quieter, with no fumes. Among the best is the Bosch Rotak 43 Li Ergoflex (£349.99 without battery and charger, bosch-garden.com) which will mow for up to around 55 minutes before it needs recharging. There are cheaper cordless mowers but make sure you check the battery life times.

2. Lawn edging shears: Smart edges make all the difference to the lawn and create a pristine finish which will also show your borders off to better effect. Choose a good quality pair of edging shears like the RHS-endorsed lawn edging shears from Burgon & Ball (£39.99, burgonandball.com), which are ultra lightweight with comfortable rubber grip handles, while the blades are made of hardened and tempered high carbon steel. Alternatively, buy lawn shears with adjustable blades, rotating 180 degrees so they can work as both lawn or edging shears. A good bet is Spear & Jackson's Razorsharp Advance Multi Shears (£37.99, spear-and-jackson.com).

3. Strimmer: You can buy an electric strimmer for under £30 – but some are notoriously difficult to use, with fiddly line replacement. For those with bigger areas to clear of long grass, brambles and nettles, you may opt for the more robust EGO Power Plus Multi-Tool's cordless line trimmer (£79.99, attachment only, EGO, egopowerplus.co.uk). It's one of five tools which fits on the Ego Multi-Tool Power Head (£199) and you'd need to buy the battery (£84.99) and charger (from £49) as well. Not a cheap option, but likely to last.